Details on a scrapped "Justice League" script show how the movie could have turned out differently from the plot to its characters.
Long before the release of "Man of Steel" and even "The Dark Knight Rises," Warner Bros. has already been working on bringing the team of superheroes to the big screen. At one point, "Gangster Squad" screenwriter Will Beall was hired to pen the script of "Justice League," but his draft was mostly forgotten when Chris Terrio replaced him in the writer's room; that is, until now.
The Wrap recently obtained Beall's 2011 script and shared a breakdown of that version. Instead of Steppenwolf, Beall's "Justice League" features the character's master and nephew, Darkseid, as the main villain. It includes Batman and Wonder Woman's son as well and has less Aquaman, although there are several other members of the league like Green Lantern and Hawkman.
This "Justice League" begins with Desaad stealing the Kryptonite from Lex Luthor for Darkseid and killing Killer Croc in the process. Rather than forming the League with Wonder Woman, Batman's primary ally in the story is Superman and their first recruit is said to be The Flash.
League members John Stewart, aka Green Lantern, and Hawkman fail to stop Desaad from weaponizing the Kryptonite, resulting in Darkseid successfully enslaving the Man of Steel. The God of Evil then goes to massacre the entire Green Lantern Corps except for Stewart.
When Superman breaks free from Darkseid's mind control, he travels to the future only to find 80 percent of the population wiped out by the villain. At that time, Wonder Woman leads the resistance with an old Batman, their son Clark Wayne, and surprisingly, Lex Luthor who helps the Flash travel back in time to warn his younger self of a terrible future. After giving the message, however, the Scarlet Speedster from the future dies.
The final "Justice League" battle is set on Darkseid's home planet, Apokolips, with the entire League, the Amazons, and the Lanterns battling the villain and his army.
Clearly, Beall's "Justice League" would have featured a lot of nods to characters from the DC comic books. Other than the aforementioned, the original script also introduces several other villains like Abel Terrant (Tattooed Man), Copperhead, Barbara Minerva (Cheetah), and Solomon Grundy. Amanda Waller from "Suicide Squad" would have also been in the mix alongside King Faraday running the Department of Metahuman Affairs.
The problem, however, is that it would not have fit the 2-hour mandated run time the actual movie got. In fact, it would have made it a two-parter.
Obviously, Warner Bros. opted Zack and Deborah Snyder's version that led to the "Justice League" that premiered last month. Starring Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Ezra Miller as the Flash, and Ray Fisher as Cyborg, the team-up film is still playing in theaters today.
